Wed May 7, 2014
The Five Obstructions, Lars Von Trier, Jørgen Leth Denmark, 2003
SEE EVENT DETAILS
at Pacific Film Archive (PFA) Theater
(see times)
Lecture / Emily Carpenter
(De fem benspænd). It should come as no surprise to viewers of Lars von Trier's masterfully wrenching films that the filmmaker who pushed Emily Watson into sexual defilement and sent Björk to the gallows frequently indulges his sadistic tendencies in a cinematic search for sanctity through suffering. In The Five Obstructions, a surprisingly playful and slyly profound documentary, the Dogme demon turns the thumbscrews on Jørgen Leth, the elder statesman of Danish film whose 1968 short The Perfect Human is a von Trier favorite. Seeking to unnerve his idol and deconstruct his "little gem that we are now going to ruin," von Trier requests (demands, really) five remakes of The Perfect Human, each circumscribed by different sets of rules that force aesthetic challenges and ethical dilemmas on the seemingly unflappable Leth. While stern taskmaster von Trier sits at home devising increasingly devilish traps for his prey, Leth globetrots from Cuba to India and remakes his own masterpiece again and again. When von Trier is happy with the results, he rewards Leth with caviar and vodka; if the results fail to live up to his expectations, punishment ensues. As a provocative investigation of the lengths to which filmmakers will go to realize their visions, The Five Obstructions cements von Trier's reputation as cinema's premier enfant terrible.
—Steven Jenkins
• Written by von Trier, Leth. Photographed by Dan Holmberg. With Lars Von Trier, Jorgen Leth. (90 mins, In English, French, Danish, Spanish with English subtitles, Color, 35mm, From Kino Lorber)
show less
(De fem benspænd). It should come as no surprise to viewers of Lars von Trier's masterfully wrenching films that the filmmaker who pushed Emily Watson into sexual defilement and sent Björk to the gallows frequently indulges his sadistic tendencies in a cinematic search for sanctity through suffering. In The Five Obstructions, a surprisingly playful and slyly profound documentary, the Dogme demon turns the thumbscrews on Jørgen Leth, the elder statesman of Danish film whose 1968 short The Perfect Human is a von Trier favorite. Seeking to unnerve his idol and deconstruct his "little gem that we are now going to ruin," von Trier requests (demands, really) five remakes of The Perfect Human, each circumscribed by different sets of rules that force aesthetic challenges and ethical dilemmas on the seemingly unflappable Leth. While stern taskmaster von Trier sits at home devising increasingly devilish traps for his prey, Leth globetrots from Cuba to India and remakes his own masterpiece again and again. When von Trier is happy with the results, he rewards Leth with caviar and vodka; if the results fail to live up to his expectations, punishment ensues. As a provocative investigation of the lengths to which filmmakers will go to realize their visions, The Five Obstructions cements von Trier's reputation as cinema's premier enfant terrible.
—Steven Jenkins
• Written by von Trier, Leth. Photographed by Dan Holmberg. With Lars Von Trier, Jorgen Leth. (90 mins, In English, French, Danish, Spanish with English subtitles, Color, 35mm, From Kino Lorber)
Lecture / Emily Carpenter
(De fem benspænd). It should come as no surprise to viewers of Lars von Trier's masterfully wrenching films that the filmmaker who pushed Emily Watson into sexual defilement and sent Björk to the gallows frequently indulges his sadistic tendencies in a cinematic search for sanctity through suffering. In The Five Obstructions, a surprisingly playful and slyly profound documentary, the Dogme demon turns the thumbscrews on Jørgen Leth, the elder statesman of Danish film whose 1968 short The Perfect Human is a von Trier favorite. Seeking to unnerve his idol and deconstruct his "little gem that we are now going to ruin," von Trier requests (demands, really) five remakes of The Perfect Human, each circumscribed by different sets of rules that force aesthetic challenges and ethical dilemmas on the seemingly unflappable Leth. While stern taskmaster von Trier sits at home devising increasingly devilish traps for his prey, Leth globetrots from Cuba to India and remakes his own masterpiece again and again. When von Trier is happy with the results, he rewards Leth with caviar and vodka; if the results fail to live up to his expectations, punishment ensues. As a provocative investigation of the lengths to which filmmakers will go to realize their visions, The Five Obstructions cements von Trier's reputation as cinema's premier enfant terrible.
—Steven Jenkins
• Written by von Trier, Leth. Photographed by Dan Holmberg. With Lars Von Trier, Jorgen Leth. (90 mins, In English, French, Danish, Spanish with English subtitles, Color, 35mm, From Kino Lorber)
read more
(De fem benspænd). It should come as no surprise to viewers of Lars von Trier's masterfully wrenching films that the filmmaker who pushed Emily Watson into sexual defilement and sent Björk to the gallows frequently indulges his sadistic tendencies in a cinematic search for sanctity through suffering. In The Five Obstructions, a surprisingly playful and slyly profound documentary, the Dogme demon turns the thumbscrews on Jørgen Leth, the elder statesman of Danish film whose 1968 short The Perfect Human is a von Trier favorite. Seeking to unnerve his idol and deconstruct his "little gem that we are now going to ruin," von Trier requests (demands, really) five remakes of The Perfect Human, each circumscribed by different sets of rules that force aesthetic challenges and ethical dilemmas on the seemingly unflappable Leth. While stern taskmaster von Trier sits at home devising increasingly devilish traps for his prey, Leth globetrots from Cuba to India and remakes his own masterpiece again and again. When von Trier is happy with the results, he rewards Leth with caviar and vodka; if the results fail to live up to his expectations, punishment ensues. As a provocative investigation of the lengths to which filmmakers will go to realize their visions, The Five Obstructions cements von Trier's reputation as cinema's premier enfant terrible.
—Steven Jenkins
• Written by von Trier, Leth. Photographed by Dan Holmberg. With Lars Von Trier, Jorgen Leth. (90 mins, In English, French, Danish, Spanish with English subtitles, Color, 35mm, From Kino Lorber)
show less
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Pacific Film Archive (PFA) Theater
2575 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94720
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